Advantages

Disadvantages

Well worth the money if you have the space for it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~The Trampoline~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The trampoline was brought for my brother as a birthday present back in September 2004. It had become a bit of a craze where we live to have one of these trampolines and so after persistent begging my dad ordered him one from Argos. The trampoline itself is 14ft in diameter and 35inches in height. The framework is made from galvanised steel and is very robust. The jumping mat is high quality and made from black heavy-duty material, which has a white X, shape marked in the middle to indicate the safest spot to jump! The jumping mat is surrounded by pads, which cover the 88 galvanised springs and the framework. The current price of the trampoline is £159.99.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Delivery~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you are planning on getting one of these trampolines, the two most important things to thing about are:1.) Whether it will fit in your garden - now this may seem silly but it is supprising how big these trampolines are and although you may have measured whether it can physically fit, you may not have considered how much space you will be left with - for example; if you have a small garden, the space once the trampoline has been put in place may not be enough for you.

2.) Whether you will be able to get it to the garden - now this is the one that people don't consider! Find out how it will be packaged and whether you will be able to get it round tight corners etc! Argos say that the delivery will be around 28 days and I think the delivery for my brothers trampoline was slightly over this but only by a few days. You are not able to collect the trampoline and it has to be delivered which can be a bit of a pain if there is not always someone in the house.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Assembly~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Whilst it is not horrendously difficult to assemble, you do need at least 2 people to put the trampoline together as it is large and heavy! The trampoline comes with a spring loading tool, which makes attaching the springs relatively easy. The instruction manual is also very good and detailed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Storage~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The trampoline we got comes with a fitted cover which you have to tie in place. This is good as trampoline covers are ridiculously expensive when purchased separately. It can be a bit time consuming, tying and untying the cover and if it is a windy day it is easier to have 2 people but the cover keeps it clean, dry and protected.The trampoline is not designed to be disassembled so once it is up, you should expect to have it up permanently.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Safety~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The trampoline comes with very clear safety instructions. The rules to help avoid injury include;Only one person at a time - we have more than one person on the trampoline at the same time but with younger children, their co-ordination is not so good and it is best to only have one on at a time to avoid bumps and knocks!

No somersaults - well when you have a 15 year old boy and his friends this rule is obviously going to be ignored but it is advisable to be very careful when doing things like flips and turns as landing badly can be extremely painful and even dangerous.

Supervision at all times is strongly recommended - for young children it would obviously be very irresponsible to leave them unattended as the trampoline is high off the ground and any bad landing or fall could cause serious injury. I would also recommend that in general (no matter what your age) supervision is a good thing! This is from experience! - There have been countless times where I have looked out into the garden to see my brother laying flat on the trampoline, holding his leg, back, arm, neck, foot, hand etc and moaning in pain!! So in case you do end up injuring yourself its best to have someone near by who can ring for an ambulance if necessary!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~The Positives~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

- first and foremost, the trampoline is great fun for all ages, as well as a good form of exercise!- The frame work and the structure of the trampoline is very good and of a high quality.- the size of the trampoline makes it fun as it is so large- The pads are made from closed cell foam to exclude water so it keeps the trampoline in a good condition.- good user documentation is supplied which is always a useful thing!- the spring loading tool and the trampoline cover are very useful to have included in the pack- assembly is relatively easy

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~The Negatives~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

- the size of the trampoline is also a negative as it does take up a lot of space but then the purpose of buying it is to buy a large trampoline so I guess this is not really an issue!- It can be time consuming to cover the trampoline so it may not get done too often!- it is quite expensive, although it is something which is going to last a long time and hopefully get a great deal of use!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~The Warranty~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The warranty is for 10 years on frame against rust causing failure, 5 years on the mat, and 2 years on the stitching and 1 year against manufacturing defects.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Overall~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well this is definitely great fun! It does take up a large amount of space and is also quite expensive but as long as you are sure it will get well used then it is definitely worth it. The shape and design is pretty safe an the target in the middle of the trampoline helps keep the jumper in the safest part of the trampoline! The cover has a small hole in the middle so any water can be drained through, this is a good idea as it makes the cover easy to remove but also prevents the risk of drowning if a young child were to climb onto the cover when full of water.

All in all, I think this was a good purchase, we have had our trampoline for a good few years now and it still gets used regularly. It is a great way of keeping fit and fun for adults as well as children. Although I have learnt not to use it when intoxicated as I did manage to knock myself unconcious a while ago and have also bounced off into a nearby bush whilst under the influence!!

Comments

Product Details

This is an excellent entry-level trampoline with a 14ft diameter. It features the 'Tri-Layer' joint system on all models and, with a 10 year guarantee on the frame, you can be sure that you are not compromising on structural strength and reliablity. Please see below for more details on both the Tri-Layer system and the specification of the trampoline.